Five everyday things tech will make obsolete

We live in an ever-changing world and now a futurist claims that everyday things we know and love will soon become extinct.

Michael McQueen, from Sydney, believes that time is running out for credit cards, iTunes, car parks, call centres and service stations.

‘This is just the beginning of the changes ahead which will impact how we live, as well as disrupt a large number of industries,’ he said.

McQueen takes a closer look at these five everyday things about to become extinct and why.

1. Car parks

McQueen explained that the think tank RethinkX believe that the self-driving age will see the end of car parks.

‘They predict that by 2027, 90 per cent of passenger miles in the US each year will be travelled in autonomous vehicles and that many of those vehicles will not be owned by the ‘driver’,’ he said.

‘Instead, this 90 percent of travel will be done in driverless Uber-style vehicles, which will make up 60 percent of the vehicles on the road.’

This means once you arrive at your destination there will be no need to park the car as your vehicle may drop you at your destination and then head off to a designated wait area or perhaps even drive home and pick you up later.

Although this research looks at America, if it does will there is a high chance it would trickle down to other countries, such as Australia.

2. Credit cards

McQueen explained that there are a variety of new technologies appearing on the market that will soon make credit cards useless.

One such company who has done this is the financial services Square, who have developed and released technology that will identify you upon entry to a store.

‘Their Pay By Name system detects when a known mobile phone is in range, identifies the buyer, and displays his or her face on a screen so that the person behind the register can simply tap the picture to complete the transaction,’ Mr McQueen said

‘Chinese payment giant Alipay even unveiled technology called ‘Smile to Pay’ in September 2017 which allows customers to verify their identity and ‘pay’ for a meal via facial recognition.’

McQueen explained that there are a variety of new technologies appearing on the market that will make credit cards useless +6
McQueen explained that there are a variety of new technologies appearing on the market that will make credit cards useless

3. iTunes

iTunes burst on the scene in 2001 and it was a service that no one had seen before and has remained relevant for the last 17 years.

This is why people may find it shocking that Mr McQueen believes soon the platform will no longer be in existence.

‘It was recently announced that Apple Music has 38 million paying subscribers, adding nearly 2 million subscribers a month, with more than 6 million trialing the service for free. That’s a lot of people who aren’t downloading music anymore,’ he said.

‘According to both Nielsen Music and BuzzAngle, music downloads suffered double-digit drops last year. And they’ve been sinking for years.’

iTunes burst on the scene in 2001 and it was a service that no one had seen before and has remained relevant for the last 17 years +6
iTunes burst on the scene in 2001 and it was a service that no one had seen before and has remained relevant for the last 17 years

4. Call centres

Using advanced technology to replace humans in certain jobs will most likely save companies money, which is why companies are rushing to implement automated service technology.

Unfortunately for many who rely on it for their income, this includes call centres,

‘By 2020, technology research leader Gartner estimates that AI-powered chatbots will be responsible for a full 85 percent of customer service interactions,’ Mr McQueen said.